Congress Gives In
Today, Congress passed a bill that allocates billions of dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. To most, this is really no surprise because several of these bills have been passed in the last few weeks. This one is unique, however, because it does not contain any timelines for the withdrawal of troops. This may seem surprising because of the adamant stance that the Democrats in Congress took on the issue, namely Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, but it was truly inevitable.
Since President Bush requested more funds for the two wars several months ago, Congress passed a bill that supplied the money that he asked for. The only stipulation this bill was that it included a timeline for the withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq. Our beloved president refused to accept this bill, vetoing seemingly without any thought. This led to a standoff between Congress and the White House, namely because, pardon my French, President Bush is the world’s largest ASS****. Throughout the debate, Bush refused to compromise; he would not accept any form of timeline for the end of the war. I honestly think that he must be forgetting that Congress represents the American people. What Congress says is what the people of this country want. How dare he veto a bill simply because he does not like it or it does not fit his plan for the war. The American people are sick of this “Global war on terror” and he refuses to accept this fact.
Congress passed a bill that gave the president everything that he asked for, money to continue a war that we should not be fighting without any stipulations for the end of the war. The Democrats in the Senate and the House were forced to stand down simply because the troops on the ground needed the funds for supplies. President Bush should know, however, that the days of him getting whatever he wants from Congress are over. It was wrong of him to force this bill to be passed by putting the lives of American troops on the line. He played politics. If the troops ran out of supplies he could simply say that Congress refused to give him the money needed to keep them supplied. He risked the lives of American troops playing politics and as disappointing as it is that he received all that he wanted, it was responsible of the Democrats to support our troops. They displayed some things that President Bush will never possess: intelligence, responsibility, and a conscience.
From the brilliant mind of Mike Kean, your friendly Sergeant at Arms.
